Thursday, October 20, 2016

Since 1987, Jerry Delakas has been operating a newsstand outside the downtown 6 entrance on Astor Place. (After a 3-year eviction battle, the city granted him the proper permits in early 2014.)

Now it looks as if Delakas might have competition. A vendor has submitted an application with the city to open a newsstand on the reconstructed Astor Place.

According to materials (PDF) on file ahead of tonight's CB3 Transportation & Public Safety/Environment Committee, the proposed newsstand will be on the northeast corner of Fourth Avenue and Astor Place across from 51 Astor Place/the IBM Watson Building/Death Star.

It appears from a diagram at the CB3 website that the newsstand, facing Fourth Avenue, would be somewhere in this vicinity ... north of the uptown 6 entrance...

A newsstand did not appear on the rendering for the renovated plaza...

We asked William Kelley, executive director of the Village Alliance, the business improvement district that oversees the new Astor Place pedestrian plaza, about the application.

"There was not [another newsstand] included as part of the plan," he said via email. "However, due to First Amendment protections, newsstand applications can be made at any time and at any location that fits the siting criteria," such as distance from building entrances and curbs.

"We will oppose the location," Kelley said, "but the city does not take into account competition with other newsstands, unfortunately."

The meeting tonight is at 6:30 at Downtown Art, in the 1st floor theater, 70 E. Fourth St. between Second Avenue and the Bowery.

17 comments:

This is not right. Given the hell the city put Jerry through, I sincerely hope this application is denied. It's hard enough for him, the last thing he needs is some Johnny-come-lately breezing in to try and cash in by taking business away from him.

I have to say I don't think this second newsstand will really impact Jerry's that much if at all. This new one would service people entering and exiting the uptown trains vs Jerry's situated just outside the downtown trains. It seems unlikely that someone exiting the northbound train would have gone south to Jerry's to buy something unless they are heading that way. The same can be said in reverse. Besides ins't there a newsstand still on the platform of the uptown train?

I agree that this looks like it might be a way to push Jerry's newsstand out of business. But it also looks to me like the plan is to put it on the Death Start block, not on the triangle where the Uptown 4,5,6 stairs are. That's at least 3 street crossings away from Jerry's, which seems a little less intrusive and more of an amenity. We lost the news shop at 3rd and St. Mark's a while ago.

A second CubeA second KmartA second StarbucksA second WalgreensA second Death StarA second Chase bank branchA second ANYTHING

But we apparently need a second newsstand, if only to drive the infamous EV Grieve poster who used to rant that he hated newsstands because they slowed down pedestrian traffic and somehow got in that little snowflake's way. On second thought, lets make the whole plaza a giant newsstand and let Jerry run it,

They'll oppose a newsstand but they allow an ice cream stand. And the stand is right next to the subway opening. If the fire/police have to get in the station, they are blocked by that pink building and could endanger lives in case of a fire/terrorist attack/police acton. What stupid people. Ice cream trumps safety. Greed trumps the neighborhood. The Village Alliance is a joke. Plant trees. Add benches. Make it a park. ATONE FOR YOUR SINS.

There is no need for two newsstands within walking distance of each other when there is one which has been around for almost three decades. Let Jerry's newsstand be the only one. A second one will only cut into his business and most likely force him out of business, and again I think that's the plan.

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